Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ASIA #1 United Arab Emirates ( UAE )



EMIRATES are comprised of seven smaller federation of seven small former sheikhdoms.
Abudhabi is the largest Emirate followed by Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm al Qaiwain and Ras ai-Khaimah.

Interesting Facts:
1. Capital - Abu dhabi
2. Language - Arabic is the official language and English is widely spoken.
3. Religion - Majority Muslim.

Dubai is the second largest of the seven emirates and ranks as the country's leading commercial center. A cosmopolitan city with very modern architecture, is a most vibrant and exciting destination combining city life, excellent tours, great shopping, first class restaurants and bars, beautiful beaches, recreational activities such as golfing, fishing, sailing, scuba-diving, desert safaris, dune driving and a very active nightlife.
Dubai Skyline:





Dubai World Records:- 60% of the world Gold trade comes through Dubai
- 3rd biggest ports operator in the world
- The biggest development company in the world, market rank: Emaar
- The fastest growing airline: Emirates
- The biggest mideast non oil company, assest rank: 1st: Dubai World, 2nd: Dubai Holding

Dubai Burj Tower - World's tallest building:


Al Burj (The Tall Tower) project being planned by Nakheel will be 1,050 metres tall, comfortably exceeding the height of the rival Burj Dubai and making it the world’s tallest building. Source: Fahad Inc.



ATLANTIS, THE PALM




* Atlantis, the Palm is a resort rising from the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf, this luxury resort is situated on 113 acres at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
* The resort consists of two towers linked by a bridge, with a total of approximately two thousand rooms. There are two Palm Jumeirah Monorail stations connecting the resort to the main section of the Palm Jumeirah islands.
* The five stars resort also includes a water theme park (160,000 square meters), a conference center, and 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) of retail space.

Amazing right?!!

The Mysterious Lovely Dubai Desserts:



SHARJAH


RECIPIES OF THE POPULAR DISHES OF EMIRATES




1. FLAT BREAD (Raqaq Bread)



* The "raqaq" bread is made from soft unleavened dough that is flattened and baked on a hot iron plate.
* When the bread is ready, a variety of toppings such as ghee, butter and sugar, cheese or meat gravy is spread onto it.
Delicious Roti right?!!!

2. YEAST BREAD



* The dough is made by mixing wheat flour, warm water, yeast and a date paste (which consists of grounded dates that were pre-soaked in water).
* The dough is left to rest for about four hours and is then cut into several pieces.
* Each piece is shaped into a flat circle and fried on both sides in a pan (or baked in a traditional oven called "tabi").
* The bread is then topped with honey and butter or cheese. This bread is traditionally baked as a special treat during Ramzan.
Ramzan yeast bread is now easy! Try out..!

3. AL HAREES

Al harees is one of the most savoured dishes in the UAE kitchen and it involves a lengthy preparation. Al harees, which is made mainly from meat and wheat, is quite prominent one during special occasions such as Ramadan, Eid and weddings.

* Al harees is made by cooking ground wheat in a pot with a pinch of salt, to which the meat is then added. The mixture is then left for long hours until it is fully cooked and the meat is completely dissolved into the wheat.
* The mixture is then poured into a clay pot and placed in a clay oven or inside a specially prepared hole on the ground that is filled with burning coal. The pot is then completely covered with the coal and left for several hours after which the thick mixture is removed and thoroughly stirred with a special piece of wood called "midrib." The final product is then topped with local ghee and placed onto flat plates.

Simpler version of Al Harees detailed recipe for you is below.


4. AL MAJBOOS

The main ingredients of Al Majboos are meat (which can be replaced by chicken or shrimp) and rice.
* The meat is placed in boiling water and a local blend of spices and dried lime are added.
* Fried chopped onion is added to the cooked meat, followed by a vegetable medley usually consisting of potatoes, tomatoes and green peppers. The mixture is left to cook on low heat for a short period.
* Cooked rice as well as saffron are then added to the meat mixture in layers.
* Finally, Al Majboos is left to cook on low fire or in an oven for about 10 minutes.

This is similar to our Dum Briyani, right?!!

5. AL SALONA

* The dish is prepared by boiling meat with onions and then adding a variety of vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, onions, pepper, tomato and some okra).
* Spices and tomato paste are also added and the mixture is left to simmer for 10 minutes until ready.

This dish is like meat soup.. sounds delicious know?!!

6. AL MADROOBA

Fish is used heavily in Emirati Cuisine in a variety of recipies: grilled, fried or cooked with rice.

This dish consists of salt-cured fish (known locally as "Maleh" or salty) and flour. * The fish is cleaned thoroughly in running water and then cooked in a pot along with spices.
* While cooking, flour is added to the fish until the sauce thickens. Topped with ghee before serving.

Quite different recipe know..?!

DESSERTS
7. AL KHABEESAH




* This dessert is made from flour which is heated on a stovetop.
* As its colour turns brown, rose water, sugar, ghee and cardamom are added.
* The mixture is then left on medium heat until ready.

This is similair to our Wheat Halwa.. Right?!! Rose water is a variation..!

8. AL KHANFAROOSH


* This is prepared from a mixture of flour, egg, sugar, yeast, cardamom, saffron and rose water.
* The mixture is then left to rest, after which it is divided into pieces and fried in ghee.
* The flour is sometimes replaced with rice, where the rice is washed and then left in the sun to dry after which it is finely ground before use.

Mmm.. yummmy know! Will try out for sure! Looks like our tamilnadu paniyaaram :)

TRADITIONAL RECIPE OF THE COUNTRY:

AL HAREEZ




INGREDIENTS:

1. Mutton - 1 Kg,
2. Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup,
3. Wheat grains - 1 cup (chopped),
4. Whole green pulse - 1/2 cup,
5. Onions - 2 (Finely chopped),
6. Black pepper (Freshly ground) - 3 tsp,
7. Garlic paste - 1 tsp,
8. Salt - as per taste,
9. Oil - for frying.

HOW TO MAKE AL HAREES:

1. Soak the wheat grains in water overnight. Strain them in the morning before preparing.
2. Boil the rice and whole pulse in some water with salt.
3. Fry onions in oil until golden brown and add the garlic paste. Stir for a minute then add the meat, salt and water and cook on low heat until well cooked. Take out the meat without broth from the pan and crush it with a hand crusher.
4. Put back the meat in the same broth along with the wheat and cook well. Then add the rice and pulse in the meat mixture along with the black pepper and cook further. Mix thoroughly with the help of a wooden spoon until the meat and grains are well mixed.
4. Seperately in a frying pan fry some sliced onion until brown and add the onions and oil to the hareesa.

Serve hot with Chapati/Roti.

I checked this recipe from here, do look for more varieties.

Picture and content courtesy: Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia, Nations online.

Mmmm... Delicious right?!! An Arabic treat for you...!!

Hope you all enjoyed..! Let me know your comments and suggestions.

Meet you in another country blog!

19 comments:

Shreya said...

Hi, such an interesting idea for a blog:-) Love the pictures, hope to see many more places and food from this space...

Sanghi said...

Thanks Shreya, for such a sweet and quick response.

Unknown said...

hi,
Iam in Abudhabi now from 3 years nice to see a post about Emirates are you been here any time? this is the best time(dec-feb) to come here and hey are you make all those dishes? nice writeup

Sanghi said...

No Rekha, I'v not been there. No i'v not made the dishes, the pictures i took from yahoo. Will try to make Al haseer, soon will post my original version.
also, thanks for ur lovely comments.

Indranee Batabyal said...

Hi Sanghi,great to read about Dubai and the lovely cuisine there and nice clicks too! Just want to let you know that I've changed my blog name...it's no longer the same again(Mistress of Spices).Have a great year!

CurryLeaf said...

Wow,Goob new blog.Nice info and pics.Waiting for info on more countries

Uma said...

Wow, nice arab recipes. thanks for wonderful info Sanghi!

Rachel Cotterill said...

Looks like a fascinating project :)

I'm trying to go round-the-world in recipe books this year (and future years if it works nicely), it's at http://cookerybookclub.blogspot.com if you're interested.

Sanghi said...

Nice to hear lovely comments from you friends..!

Archy said...

Hey, really an interesting project for a new year DEAR.. Even we will come to know lots of other things from ur informative posts,
Good going.. All the best !!

Srikitchen said...

really very interesting set of package that u r going to give for us and we too here with u to go for a (free) world tour! pics looks so cool!

Malar Gandhi said...

Great job honey, love the very idea...pictures look hi-tech!

vidhas said...

Great job Sangi, Very informative and awesome pictures. I planning to make my daughter to read this , so that she can learn about different places. Thanks for sharing. You rock sangi

Anonymous said...

Your blog is beautiful as is your country. The food looks absolutely delicious! I'm hungry from reading your post.
Thank you so much for coming by my blog, too. I love meeting new friends from exotic places.
Very best to you, Dedene

Swapna said...

Beautiful picutres with great recipe. Love it.

Unknown said...

hi
Overall it's an informative post and i do agree what has been said over here. But i believe that signs of a market slowdown has been there since the beginning of the summer 2008. Also many fears that it is primarily due to liquidity crunch in the market as well as the Dubai property investors sentiment being low due to global economic slowdown. But you know that i consider it as temporary halt in the real estate investment activity and will recover from it, as the fundamentals of Dubai property market are quite strong then other global property markets.

I have stayed in Dubai for 2 years and the place is fantastic, it is really growing as a premium business center of Asia and in the coming days Dubai has a bright future.
I am in Abudhabi now from 3 years nice to see a post about Emirates are you been here any time? this is the best time(dec-feb) to come here and hey are you make all those dishes? nice writeup

Thanks

dubaipalmisland

Sanghi said...

Thanks Archy, Sri, Malar, Vidhas and Swapna for ur lovely comments.

Dedene, it was great to see ur comment. Thanks.

Naval Langa, thanks for the comment and tagging me. Excellent blog.

Zac, thanks for stopping at my blog. Great info. Also those dishes are not made by me. Just a sample food sumup from other food sites.

Rajee said...

Love all your posts and your pictures. Glad that you enjoyed lot by visiting many places. I would like to try sample food from u too.

Scuba Diving in Fujairah said...

Very great and beautiful pictures with the differ tasty recipes.

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